Outing the private lives of public figures

Updated
October 27, 2013 07:30:00

What's private in a public figure's life? That's the question being asked in New Zealand after the outing of Auckland's mayor for an extra-marital affair. Some commentators believe the media have crossed the Rubicon in their reporting of Len Brown's tryst, which was made public by a blogger who's long been on a crusade to unseat the Mayor.

ELIZABETH JACKSON: What's private in a public figure's life? That's the question being asked in New Zealand after the outing of Auckland's Mayor for an extra-marital affair.

Some commentators believe the media have crossed the Rubicon in their reporting of Len Brown's indiscretion, which was made public by a blogger who's long been on a crusade to unseat the Mayor.

New Zealand correspondent, Dominique Schwartz, reports.

DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ: On October the 12th, a beaming Len Brown was on national television celebrating his re-election as the Mayor of New Zealand's largest city.

Three days later, the 57-year-old was back on the box, but his smile had gone

LEN BROWN: I'm here primarily for my family. I have caused my wife and my children harm and shame and humiliation, and I want the media and the community please, as much as they can, respect my family as I go through this time of addressing those issues with them, with Shan and the girls.

DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ: The 'issue' was his two year on-again-off-again sexual relationship with Bevan Chuang - a woman 25 years his junior who was on the council's Ethnic Peoples' Advisory Panel.

Intricate details of the pair's affair had been posted earlier in the day on the Whaleoil website run by right-wing blogger Cameron Slater - an avowed opponent of the left-leaning Len Brown.

He's also the son of John Slater, who was the campaign manager for a rival mayoral candidate, John Palino, a businessman and TV personality who came runner-up in the race for the Town Hall.

It was the scorned lover, Ms Chuang, who spilled the beans to Whaleoil.

She said she'd felt used when the Mayor stopped his communication with her before the election campaign.

She was quoted as saying: "At least if I was a hooker I would have got something out of this, but I got nothing. I was starting to feel like Monica Lewinsky."

It was titillating stuff.

There were details of a security guard interrupting a sexual romp in a council room and a none-too-flattering rating of the Mayor's sexual prowess.

But was it a story that needed to be told, with implications for the running of Auckland? Or was it a gratuitous intrusion into Len Brown's private life, and not just his life, but that of his family?

Any debate in the wider media was short-lived. News of the Mayor's affair spread like wildfire across radio, TV, print and online.

Over the ensuing days, the leaking of the affair began to look more and more like a poorly executed political ambush.

It emerged that not only had Ms Chuang been having an affair with Len Brown, but also with a Luigi Wewege, a member of the rival Palino mayoral campaign.

Ms Chuang released transcripts of alleged text conversations with Mr Wewege, which showed he constantly pressured her for any dirt on Len Brown. Mr Wewege has since gone to ground.

As for failed mayoral candidate Palino, he initially denied having anything to do with Ms Chuang, but then admitted to meeting her in a car park a day after the mayoral election.

But he and the Slaters deny there was any orchestrated plot to pressure Len Brown to resign.

As for the Mayor, he says he's staying on; that he has failed his family, not public office.

So has the public good been served in bringing this affair to light?

The country's political leaders are not buying into the debate. No doubt there are MPs who are sweating over this latest development, and some media players, who've taken the high moral ground, probably should be too.

Possibly the most worrying aspect of this whole saga is the reason Cameron Slater has given for launching the story. It's a line from the Batman movie 'The Dark Knight'.

(Excerpt from 'The Dark Knight')

ALFRED PENNYWORTH (Anthony Hopkins): Some men aren't looking for anything logical like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.

DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ: With pictures of the New South Wales bushfires fresh in everyone's minds, it's not a pretty thought.